Nchindo never declared his interest

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Tuesday April 27, 2010 00:00

 

Giving evidence yesterday, former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Minerals Energy and Water Resources, Dr Akolang Tombale told Regional Magistrate Lot Moroka that while the Debswana management made proposals to his board on undertaking a tourism development project, to the tune of P631 million, Louis Nchindo did not declare any personal interests in such developments. Tombale was deputy chairman of the board from 2001 until his retirement from the civil service in 2008.

He stated that board members are required to declare their interests and make a list of their assets every year to avoid conflict of interest. Tombale declared that in all board meetings attended with Nchindo, no such interests in tourism development were declared, nor were they made known to the then Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Boometswe Mokgothu. A list of over 10 companies in which Nchindo was director, or had shareholdings was read to the court and Tourism Development Consortium (Pty) Ltd and Golconda Holdings (Pty) Ltd were never mentioned.

In the declaration of interest that Nchindo made court heard that Nchindo only disclosed his 15 percent stake in African Alliance and his 100 percent stake in MmaSedikwe consultants and a series of companies in South Africa and Botswana many of which he served as a director with no direct interest. Such companies included De Beers, Debswana Valuing Company, Botswana Stock Echange, De Beers South Africa and others. 

Tombale said that the Board of Directors would not have allowed Nchindo to pursue a business that was going to be in conflict with the interests of Debswana Mining Company if they had known that he had such designs. While Tombale said Nchindo had at no point made it clear to the board that he had similar plans as those being pursued by Debswana in the form of a hotel site in Gaborone, Advocate Craig Webster intimated that evidence will be later made by other witnesses that Nchindo had declared his interest in plot 55720, in fact he quoted from a 2003 minute that Nchindo had declared such interest.

He said that among the components of the Debswana project were Chobe Lodge in the Chobe National Park (P180 million), Hotel near Maun (P98 million), two lodges in the Okavango at a cost of (P27 million) each, 30-room desert lodge (P27 million), Five-Star hotel in Gaborone (223 million) and Retail and Diamond exposition centre in Gaborone (P10 million).

 He said that the Chairman of the Debswana Board of Directors Nicky Oppenheimer feared that the project would divert the company from its core business of mining and was reluctant to support it. He was also concerned about the large cost involved. However, said Tombale, the government representatives felt that such a project had the potential to diversify the country's economy as had happened in South Africa.Tombale revealed how government representatives and De Beers representatives on the Debswana board varied. According to Tombale government representatives felt that Debswana, as the largest company in Botswana, was duty bound to lead economic diversification the same as it had done in South Africa.

He explained how the two major companies DeBeers and Anglo American had played a major role in diversifying the economy of South Africa by engaging in non-mining sectors, hence the representatives felt that Botswana could also benefit from a similar move.  The whole project was to be done in phases and Debswana management was tasked with acquiring land for it. He said that after a heated meeting the board finally resolved to give the project the green light and the Environmental Impact Assessment was carried out at Chobe at a cost of P855, 000 and other projects were to follow.

Under cross-examination by Webster, Tombale confirmed that the project was a viable one that got the support of the minister and the board. It emerged that an international company operating tourism resorts in the Bahamas, Dubai and Mauritius was earmarked to take over the running of the Chobe hotel and Gaborone Five Star hotel once complete. It also emerged that once the project was operational, Debswana was going to have a 31 percent stake in the business, while the rest would go to interested local companies and individuals.

This however was contested under re-examination when Prosecutor Kgosietsile Ngakaagae pointed to Tombale that the presentation made to the Minister of Minerals Boometswe Mokgothu pointed it out that Debswana, in the ultimate project, would have at least a 51 percent stake.

During cross examination Tombale had retorted that the main reason why a presentation was made to the minister was so that he could give the project his backing as opposed to just being an information sharing exercise. The whole project was shelved in 2005 after the board rejected the Gaborone project.

In the same case prosecution by yesterday afternoon introduced Gladys Phendu the Former Principal Assistant Registrar of Deeds. Her evidence was chiefly to state the process of registering and executing a deed. She mentioned that she was the one who executed a deed in favour of TDC in 2002.

There is a charge that government was denied revenue when property was transferred from Debswana straight to Gloconda, a company co-owned by Nchindo and his son Garvas Nchindo. The view of the prosecution, it would appear, is that Nchindo avoided paying transfer duty when he bought the property but transferred it to Gloconda PTY LTD without paying for transfer duty then.

Giving her evidence in chief Phendu said according to the Registrar of Deeds act transfer of duty should be paid in sequence and that no transfer can be effected without paying the duty.